A president without sense of history, justice, country?

PRESIDENT-ELECT Rodrigo Duterte has made another controversial pronouncement: He will allow the burial of the remains of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Could this be a “lapse in judgment” on his part? Or total loss of sense of history, justice—and country?

Despite attempts by some people to deodorize the villainous reputation of Marcos, the fact remains that the fallen dictator caused, ordered and allowed the systematic dismantling of Philippine democracy; the warrantless arrests, incarceration, torture, murder and disappearance of countless citizens; and the plunder of the country’s economy—while the press, then muzzled and cowed, looked the other way.

If Marcos really did “great” things for the country, history could have reserved for him a decent spot in the burial place of heroes, even without his or his family’s asking. Or he would have graciously stepped down when his last presidential term expired, instead of perpetuating himself in power and amassing ill-gotten wealth. Offering fake justifications for the imposition of martial law and subjecting the Filipinos to unspeakable oppression and indignity were certainly not the work of a great leader—an image some Marcos loyalists, led by his remorseless son, would like to create for their hero.

And what had the Marcos dictatorship accomplished that deserves “recognition”? The paved highways and bridges leading to Marcos’ place in the north and to his cronies’ vast landholdings in the south? The fabulous and expensive cultural centers where the oligarchs used to converge and frolic? The walls alongside roads to keep the ugliness of poverty in the country from the eyes of visiting foreign dignitaries? The huge stone bust carved on a hill to glorify the dictator who caused the Filipino people so much suffering and injustice?

Well, Marcos is history. And whether or not his long-preserved waxed corpse is buried at all or elsewhere (but not the heroes’ cemetery, heaven forbid!) is no longer a pressing issue.

What should concern our president-elect is how to redeem his campaign promise to finally rid our society of illegal drugs, crime and corruption within three to six months of his presidency. What should alarm every freedom-loving, truth-seeking and justice-starved Filipino is the looming possibility of history repeating itself under Duterte’s leadership!

—MANUEL A. COLLAO, [email protected]